Thieves: Chapter 9

Jovlin was still looking out of the window when something zoomed past her so fast that she couldn’t really see what it was. At first she thought it must be a giant bird, because she was certain she had felt the touch of feathers on her face as a wing passed her, but it was much too big for a bird. Suddenly, the sky was full of brightly colored flashes, flying through the air as if chasing the wind. They swooped around, chasing each other with such speed that they could not clearly be seen. Each was a different color, each seemed a different size. They biggest and fastest of the creatures came in from below, slowly at first, and then picking up speed to disappear in a matter of moments. While it had been flying very quickly, the one moment when it had slowed had allowed Jovlin to get a glimpse of the creature, with The Mask on its back. It looked somewhat like a bird, with the wings and feathers of one, but strangely reptilian. The neck of the creature extended out from the body, angled towards the wind, ears like a cat’s and flattened against its head, and eyes squinted against the sun. The eyes were the first thing that stood out to her, because they seemed to hold much understanding, at least more than any other animal Jovlin had ever seen. The other reptilian feature was its scales. The creature did have feathers, but instead of skin underneath it was clear to seen white scales like armor. The only name Jovlin could come up with to describe this creature was Dragon. This would have amazed Jovlin, if she had been given more time to think about it, but she wasn’t. In the moment it took for The Mask to disappear from sight, another dragon with fur instead of feathers swooped down from somewhere above her and flapped its wings close to the window. The force blew Jovlin back, but she ran forward immediately, hoping to catch a glimpse of this dragon. She received more than a glimpse, because this dragon stayed by the window, looking straight at her. Jovlin was held by its gaze and slowly stepped closer to the window. She reached out her hand and managed to brush the tip of this pink dragon’s wing as it rose up, and then down. The gust of air caused by the power of the beasts thrusts brushed past her, catching her messy hair in is grasp and throwing it back behind her. The dragon looked at her curiously, blinking its cat-like blue eyes as it turned its head towards her. It nodded its head towards her, and then at its back. With its next down-thrust, the dragon revealed a saddle on its back, and then nodded again. At once, Jovlin knew what the dragon intended for her to do, and she felt a strange sense of trust in the creature. She took two steps back, waited, only a heartbeat, until the mighty beast’s wings had just reached the tip of their upstroke, and ran. When she reached the sill, Jovlin took a leap into the air, into the pink clouds, into the dying sun, into her final adventure.